Cost as a Barrier to Medical Care

To the Editor: In “Cost as a Barrier to Medical Care in Relation to Unemployment Rates” (Nov. 26 issue), 1 it seems to me that Figure 1 is misleading. The y axes for the two plotted variables have different points of origin, but more important, different scales. The patterns of monthly unemployment rates and the prevalence of the perception that cost was a barrier to medical care cannot be compared validly on such a misleading graph. Plotted correctly, the two lines would not overlap or parallel each other as they appear to. The authors reply: To the Editor: We appreciate Lewkowski's . . .